


In Your Warmth

by stars_disguised_as_candles



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hurt Tony, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Steve Rogers, Threesome - M/M/M, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-05-05 22:16:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14628156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stars_disguised_as_candles/pseuds/stars_disguised_as_candles
Summary: UNFINSHED AND SOON TO BE REMOVEDAfter Thanos had wiped half of the universe from existence like they were nothing, Tony had returned to Earth, prepared to avenge them or die trying.Then, he had found Steve. Steve who he hadn't seen in what felt like a lifetime. Steve who he thought would've been ripped away from him like everyone else that he loved. Steve who was still so pure that he wanted to not just avenge the people they had lost, but bring them back.So they did. They brought them all back, including Bucky.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I decided to just skip past all those deaths, Tony fixed it. Everything is fine(ish).

Tony gasps for breath as he stumbles backwards into something or rather someone that he was sure wasn’t there before. He feels a hand rest on his shoulder and he rips the gauntlet from his hand terrified by the surge of power he had felt ripping through him after just the snap of his fingers.

His throat begins to close up and he can feel heat in his cheeks and rising up the back of his neck. The gauntlet just lies on the floor and it’s all that he can see, black surrounding practically everything else, all noise becoming muffled and distant.

Another hand holds his side and pulls him around and into the person’s chest, into safety. They just hold him, rubbing his back, breathing steadily next to his ear, and helping him calm his own breathing. It grounds him and even as he feels the world coming back to him he doesn’t want to pull away in fear of seeing who is around him.

Still, reason gets the better of him and he pulls back, seeing his comforter was Bucky, the man he had hated so very much last time he had seen him. He turns again to find Steve still standing, with his arms crossed, where he had been before, allowing a wave of relief to rush over him. He feels better knowing he at least hadn’t caused any pain to one of the only people left that he cared for.

Then, he notices the one person that he had hoped to save more than anyone else sitting on the floor looking dazed and confused, almost as though he’s just awoken from a long nap rather than over a year of non-existence. Tony could laugh at the sight of Peter but instead he just drops to his knees pulling the boy into a shaky, uncertain hug.

‘I don’t mean to break up the party, Stark, but you did it, right? You saved them all?’ A familiar, arrogant, narcissistic voice queries.

‘Well Strange, you’re here, are you not?’ Tony questions sarcastically, standing up and pulling Peter up with him. He looks again to find not only Strange, but also the Guardians that had been with them at the time. ‘Although,’ he adds, less confidently this time, ‘Why are you here? I mean, you didn’t- it wasn’t here. It wasn’t even this planet.’

‘I assume it was because you were the last person we were with, we’ve all been connected to you, somehow. Not that it matters, right now. First, we should check that you have actually fixed it and that everyone is back.’

‘We need to find Rocket and Groot too.’ Quill calls out, fidgeting on the spot, uncomfortable with the situation. ‘Gamora, too. We need to get her back. It’ll all be fine.’

‘Yes, your pet is at our base and hopefully, if everyone has been saved, the tree will be there too.’ Tony explains turned to Steve, his hand still lingering on Peter’s shoulder.

Steve steps forward now, joining the conversation. ‘Tony, call the rest of the Avengers and I’ll contact SHIELD. Hopefully they can assess if everyone has been brought back. We’ll head back to the Avengers facility and then we’ll have to decide what to do about the gauntlet and the stones.’ He looks to Tony, who has already tensed up at the mention of the gauntlet, terrified of the power it holds.

Still, he slowly steps towards it, picking it up from where he had thrown it in fear just seconds before. He carefully avoids touching the stones and turns to Strange who nods and opens a portal to the base.

He pushes Peter forwards, not letting him out of his sight and follows him through, placing the gauntlet down on the coffee table the second they’re inside.

‘FRIDAY, let everyone know we're back,’ Tony commands tiredly, sitting on the sofa and pulling Peter down to sit next to him. Stephen follows behind, standing next to them as the Guardians stand separately from them, already bickering amongst themselves. Bucky stays behind with Steve as he talks on the phone.

Tony can't tell his eyes off  of Peter, making the boy slightly uncomfortable. ‘Um, Mr Stark, are you alright?’

Tony clears his throat, ‘Yes, yes I'm just fine,’ he brushes off the feeling of worry lingering over him and continues, ‘How do you feel?’

‘I'm fine Mr Stark, really. So, how did you fix it? Us, I mean,’ the kid asks, curiously, as if nothing too bad had really happened. He makes it sound like the last time they'd seen each other he hadn't been begging Tony to save him. He makes it sound like he hadn't apologized for his own death. He makes it sound like he hadn't died at all.

Tony looks to Strange, who is staring at him knowingly. ‘Ask the Sorcerer Supreme he's the one that set this all up. Or am I wrong?’

Peter turns excitedly to the man, slowly piecing together the puzzle pieces, realising that this was the one in a million that he’d spoken of. Strange doesn't reply, he just looks down at him smiling slightly, before turning back to Tony.

‘I would say that I didn’t doubt you, not even for a second, but that would be a lie. Still you did it, Stark. You deserve more credit than I gave you.’ His smile is slightly smug but still sincere and Tony laughs shaking his head.

He turns to see Bucky staring at him but as soon as Tony looks at him, he stands up straighter and turns away quickly, embarrassed and seemingly scared. He tries to push down that anger and jealousy as Steve rests hand on his arm, still talking into the phone.

He had grown closer again to Steve while they were trying to find out how to bring everyone back and a part of Tony had wished that they could just go back to how they were before.

Although, now that he's standing there next to Bucky, his eyes glued to the man, Tony knows that things will be once more changed. He can understand, though, he too feels as though he can't let Peter out of his reach, it's irrational but he is frightened to lose him again. His death is still playing in his mind even as he's sitting just a metre away, perfectly safe and happy and whole.

Tony rests his head down on the side of the sofa, the energy seemingly sucked out of him. Although, bringing half of the universe’s population back into existence was bound to tire him a little. He closes his eyes, the exhaustion seeming to get infinitely worse as he realises that he’s tired and just lets it wash over him, dragging him into a deep sleep.

‘Tony, friend!’ a loud voice calls as a hand grabs his upper arm and he practically jumps out of his skin, his hand forming a fist, the other grabbing the person in front of him by their collar. Immediately, the hand on his arm relaxes but doesn’t move away and another rests on his shoulder comfortingly.

‘Thor,’ he breathes out, looking around to find the Avengers filing in, including those who had been missing for the past year. Tony turns back to Thor who is gives him a reassuring smile as he moves back, sitting on the edge of the sofa next to Tony.

Tony doesn’t know if he can find the energy to stand, his whole body aches and he can hardly even focus his eyes for more than a few seconds at a time. Steve seems to notice this so he steps forwards, looking around as everyone concludes their reunions, smiling at the people he’s had returned to him.

‘I know you’re all celebrating and don’t get me wrong this certainly is something to be celebrated. It’s been a tough year and finally being together again is truly an incredible feeling,’ Steve starts, unable to help himself from grinning at Bucky and Sam. He clears his throat as he continues, with a much more serious tone, ‘There are people we’ve lost that I don’t know if we can bring back-’

Wanda cuts in, looking to the gauntlet Tony had left on the coffee table in front of them, ‘Why can’t you just use the time stone? Thanos brought back Vis with, you brought us back with it, surely you could bring him back again.’

Tony tenses up at the mention of the gauntlet the memory of power flashing in his mind and echoing throughout his body. He takes a deep breathe, doing his best to look together, ‘We used the gauntlet to bring you back which requires all of the stones. We weren’t just turning back time, we were reversing Thanos’ actions, altering reality, releasing everyone’s souls. All of the stones were needed.’

‘Right, but why can’t you just do that again? Or just use the time stone to save Vis, he wasn’t killed the same way we were,’ Wanda continues. She is determined, he’ll give her that.

Thankfully, Strange interrupts this time, taking the explanation into his own hands, ‘Time cannot be altered when the event is so distant. It could cause unforeseeable damage that would condemn all of humanity.’

Tony rolls his eyes, regardless of the pain it seems to cause in his head, smiling, amused at Strange. ‘You know you can talk like a normal human being,’ he scoffs, fondly. Although, he turns back to Wanda, drowsily adding, ‘The gauntlet can’t be used either, there’s too much power, even using it just once,’ he pauses, afraid of his own phrasing. ‘I had no idea if I’d brought everyone back or if I had killed off the other half.’

There’s a silence as everyone contemplates what to say, unsure of how to respond to the information. Steve clears his throat and looks around, back in Captain mode, ‘Well we should rest up. We can return to it tomorrow but really, we need to decide what to do with the gauntlet.’

Tony is thankful for Steve, unsure of how much longer he can keep his eyes open for. They’re already closing involuntarily every minute or so but he feels incapable of moving away from the warm, comfortable sofa that he’s settled into.

There’s movement around him but he’s closed his eyes at this point and he feels a hand brush through his hair after a moment of silence. ‘Thor took the gauntlet downstairs, to lock it away. Let’s get you to bed.’

‘Steve,’ Tony notes, his eyes staying glued shut.

The Captain laughs lightly, his hand still tangled in Tony’s hair. ‘You feeling alright?’ he murmurs and Tony just gives a thumbs up, still refusing to move. Steve just sighs, picking Tony up and carrying him through to his room.

He frowns slightly as the smaller man resists in no way, instead falling asleep in his arms. However, Steve just lays his down in his bed, sighing and hoping for the best.

‘He’ll be fine,’ He tells himself, brushing his hand once again through Tony’s hair. Yet, he can’t stop thinking about what Tony had said.

_I had no idea if I’d brought everyone back or if I had killed off the other half._


	2. Chapter 2

Just over a day later, when Tony wakes up, he’s covered in sweat and hyperventilating because of a dream he can’t remember. He lays in his bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to calm himself down but failing miserably.

‘FRIDAY? What time is it?’ he pants out, sitting up in an attempt to breathe more easily, his arms resting on his knees and his hands dragging through his hair. 

‘It’s 4:36am, Sir. It’s been nearly 35 hours since Captain Rogers put you to bed and-’ FRIDAY begins as Tony proceeds to jump out of bed and choke on the air.

‘He did  _ what _ ?’ he coughs out, both confusion and amusement in his voice. 

FRIDAY seems to almost laugh at Tony as she explains, ‘You were falling asleep on the sofa, so Captain Rogers carried you to bed.’ Tony smirks to himself at the thought, much calmer now than he was before.

He stands and walks to the bathroom, staring at his reflection in the mirror for a moment before stripping down and stepping into the shower. The water is pleasantly cool, so Tony just stands and lets it wash over him for a moment, continuously reminding himself that they have won.

Everything is going to be just fine. It’s going to be great. 

As he showers, he manages to convince himself that he’s right and that everything will be fine, but as soon as he steps out again, preparing to go to the communal area, he’s filled once again with dread. He wants to run but he doesn’t know where to, he just wants to be gone from the whole situation but he can’t escape it, it’s the whole universes problem after all. There’s no where he’ll be free of it.

Instead, he just pushes the fear down, swallowing the feeling rising in his throat making him feel sick and dries himself off, getting changed and stepping out of his room. His hair is still damp but in a strange way it seems to calm him, giving him a sense of composure. 

He makes his way down to the communal floor, walking without the usual energy in his step. The floor is dark and he doesn’t expect anyone to be up so he just walks to the coffee machine, turning it on and grabbing a mug. 

‘I was starting to think you’d never wake up,’ Steve laughs as he walks in sweating and panting from a run. The voice startles Tony but he pours his cup of coffee nonetheless, turning to scowl at the captain. 

‘Well, bringing half the universe back into existence will do that to you,’ he mutters, a sudden rush of fear washing over him as doubt rises in his throat again. He looks at Steve wearily, worrying that perhaps he hasn’t brought them back and that he’ll think he’s crazy but he pushes the feeling down when he laughs. 

It’s a nice laugh, lighter than it used to be. He’s happy now. ‘You did good, Tony,’ he smiles, rubbing Tony’s shoulder softly and Tony practically melts at the affection. 

‘I um-‘ he clears his throat and stands up straighter, reverting to his usual self, ‘Is anyone else awake?’

Steve perches himself on a stool, as Tony sits on the one next to him, taking a sip of his coffee, inhaling sharply at the hot drink. ‘I don’t think so. Everyone was pretty much just catching up yesterday, a few of them went home; T’challa, Peter.’

Tony practically jumps at the boy’s name but Steve rests a hand on his leg for just a moment and then not a second later it’s gone. ‘Yeah, yeah good. The kid’s aunt was probably completely freaking out,’ he laughs forcefully. Steve clearly notices the discomfort in his tone but doesn’t mention it, which Tony is grateful for. 

They sit in silence as Tony finishes his coffee but it’s not uncomfortable, it feels peaceful. It’s like it was before the whole commotion with Thanos, even before everything at the airport and with Barnes.

‘You know Tony, we still have to decide what to do with the gauntlet and the stones. We… still have people to save,’ he begins and Tony puts down the cup then running his hands through his hair. Just the thought of the gauntlet exhausts him and terrifies him at the same time. 

‘I  _ know _ , Steve,’ he groans, his elbows resting on his thighs and his head falling in his hands. ‘It’ll be fine, Cap. It’ll all be fine, I promise.’

Steve’s hands rest on Tony’s lowered shoulders, rubbing them slightly, doing their best to take away the stress. ‘Are you sure I’m not meant to be the one saying that?’ he chuckles, his hands wandering to cup the back of Tony’s neck. 

He tilts his head upwards slightly, to look at Steve, smiling softly. Suddenly, he jumps out of the stool, clapping his hands together once. ‘Right. We should eat, work needs to be done,’ he announces starting towards the coffee machine to pour himself another drink. 

Steve rolls his eyes but smiles adoringly moving towards the fridge. ‘That’s not food, Tony,’ he lectures fondly as he looks through the fridge for something to eat. He decides to make bacon and eggs, carrying copious amounts out of the fridge to cook for the whole team, walking to the stove. 

‘Well I’m not going to make it, am I? I’m just here to drink coffee and watch as you make it,’ he retorts, peering at Steve from over his mug. 

Instead of replying, Steve just shakes his head, disapprovingly but still smiling nonetheless. 

When the food is ready, Tony asks FRIDAY to let the others know and they trail in one by one, slowly and sleepily. 

‘Hey there, sleeping beauty,’ Clint laughs out, smirking at Tony and earning a chuckle from Natasha.

Tony rolls his eyes, grumbling, ‘Wow, what have I got to do to get a break around here. Is saving the universe not worthy of a long nap?’

‘Long nap? Really, Stark? I would have hoped you could’ve been honest with yourself,’ Strange says, smiling at Tony as he grabs a plate, sitting next to Quill. 

Tony doesn't say anything to that because he notices someone else walking into the room, silently as well as grumpily. Steve grabs another plate and passes it to his friend, while Tony just sits and eats, gazing at the two. Bucky refuses to meet his eye but Steve turns and smiles, almost embarrassing Tony as he realises that he’s been staring.

‘I know it's quite early and so you may not be fully awake yet but we have some things to sort out. Of course, everyone will want to eat and shower first but at eight, let's meet in the debriefing room and we can start it from there,’ Steve orders back in Captain mode. Everyone seems satisfied with the plan, so he jumps out of his seat and runs upstairs to shower off the sweat from his morning workout.

Tony watches him go but as he turns his head he notices that Bucky has been doing the same and had noticed him too. They both clear their throats, uncomfortably, and return to breakfast, hoping that nobody else noticed. However, unfortunately Strange is staring smugly at Tony his eyes then flicking from him to Bucky, knowingly.

‘Well, I’ll head down to my workshop in the meantime,’ he laughs changing the subject. ‘I’m sure Dum-E and U will have missed me. How couldn’t they?’ he jokes, practically leaping out of his chair, full of energy, running over to the lift.

‘FRIDAY, let the kid know that we’re meeting at eight and take me down to my workshop,’ he calls out, swinging through the doors and leaning against the wall. He sighs, running his hands through his hair, pushing down all negative thoughts and focusing only on what he needs to work on.

He tells himself that Steve’s suit could always use an upgrade. He’ll never be safe enough, for Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a while because I have exams, but here's an update.   
> Also there's going to be some Bucky next chapter so look forward to that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm trying to keep to a schedule of posting weekly but I do have exams coming up so they might affect it slightly. Anyway, enjoy!

Tony stays in the workshop, not talking to anyone other than Dum-E and U, until he hears a knock at the door. Jumping out of his state of concentration, in which he's been focusing on improving Steve's suit, he turns to find Bucky standing silently and almost frightened outside the room.

He clears his throat, gesturing for the man to come in, waving away the new blueprints for the suit and turning in his stool to face Bucky. ‘Mr Barnes, how may I help you?’ he asks, doing his best to be civil when all he can think when he sees the man is how he took his parents away from him and then subsequently took Steve away from him too.

It’s not his fault, he tells himself, trying to shake the feeling rising in his throat. He didn’t have a choice, he was hypnotised and yet Tony can’t help but argue with himself that he was fully aware that he was taking Steve away. 

Although, Tony can see that the other man seems to be pretty uncomfortable with the situation too, not even making eye contact with him and just staring at the floor between them. He can’t seem to say anything for a while, his eyes darting around a small area on the ground, his head bowed in what seems to be a mixture of shame and fear. ‘Steve said you could help,’ he managed to choke out, stiff in his place.

Confused, Tony raises an eyebrow, cocking his head to the side slightly. ‘With what?’

Bucky’s eyes dart up up to Tony for just a second they find their way back to the floor. Once again, he coughs out response, still just as uncomfortable, ‘My arm.’ He looks to Tony again and then continues once more, ‘Got damaged in the fight. Hurts a little.’ He shrugs, looking back to the floor, making sure to keep his distance from Tony.

‘Hurts how? Aching or sharp pain or what?’ Tony inquires waving Bucky towards him and pulling out a seat from under the desk. Bucky awkwardly perches himself on the stool and Tony grabs the arm resting it on the desk so that he can have a closer look at it.

‘Dunno,’ Bucky starts looking up to Tony who rolls his eyes, all too familiar with his teammates, especially Steve, and their unspecific complaints about their suits and weapons. Noticing this Bucky turns to stare at his arm, taking a deep breath before elaborating, ‘Can’t really tell. A mixture I guess but it changes. Still feels kinda numb anyway. After the dust thing, I mean.’

Tony immediately stops working, frozen in his place. He feels panic shocking him like electricity, self-conscious of the fact that Bucky can see him acting so weak. Although, he manages to push the feeling down, his eyes flickering up to Bucky’s as he calms his breathing and returns to his arm. 

As much as he tells himself that it’s over, every time he thinks of it, it’s like he back there with Peter fading away in his arms or with the gauntlet trapped on his hand. But it is over and they’re back and the gauntlet has been taken away from him and everything he felt should be in the past. 

‘You feel numb?’ he asks quickly, staring at the arms as he gets to the nerves connecting the arm to his body. 

He seems reluctant to talk about it, which Tony can understand and relate to but for some reason he answers him anyway. At first, it’s just a small grunt of acknowledgment but he then takes a deep breath preparing to elaborate. ‘Yeah, it’s faded I guess. ‘M not really sure if it’s because of that anymore because it’s mainly gone and it’s mostly jus’ my arm now.’

Tony’s hands are slightly shaky and he drops his tool, his other hand pulling away from Bucky’s shoulder as he looks up at him, both of them now holding a stare for longer than a second at a time. Still, Tony clears his throat and moves on, away from the difficult topic. ‘Okay so, I can sort this out but I’m going to need to adjust the arm, or make another one entirely. The nerve attachments are  _ incredible _ so I’ll have to look at them in more detail which might take some time. We have to meet with Cap and the others in about ten minutes so I’ll just put these parts back together and we can come back to it later.’ He grins at the mechanics involved in the arm, in awe of the work. 

‘If you want I can ask Shuri for the things,’ Bucky mumbles his hands waving as he tries to think of the word. 

‘Uh, the blueprints?’ Tony frowns slightly unsure of what he’s trying to say. Thankfully he nods, smiling appreciatively. ‘Yeah that would help, thanks.’

He turns back to the arm, reassembling the pieces he’s removed, smiling at the work, actually happy with the task he’s been given. They sit in silence for a while until FRIDAY pipes up, ‘Sir, the team have gathered in the conference room. Nick Fury is also amongst them.’

Tony groans, on instinct, regardless of how pleased he is that he’s back. ‘Yeah, yeah. We’ll be up in a second,’ he murmurs, under his breath, attaching the few final pieces. ‘I’ve readjusted some of the wires, I think they may have been sparking on each other which might have caused some of the pain. Still I’ll look more into it later,’ he reassures Bucky who smiles at him, stretching the arm as if it were a real one. Though, it’s so advanced that it practically is. 

‘Thanks,’ he grunts, standing up awkwardly, shifting towards the door as Tony follows behind him. They stand in silence in the lift as they wait for it to reach their floor and walk into the conference room together, taking their seats without a word.

Steve smiles at Tony, trying to hide his happiness at the fact that Tony is trying to get along with Bucky, knowing how much he means to him. Tony quickly smiles but immediately turns away looking at Peter who’s sitting next to him.

‘Okay, so now that everyone is here we have a few things to discuss. Obviously, the most important mission - to recover half the universe’s population - has been accomplished but with this, we’ve encountered a few issues that should be dealt with,’ Steve begins, looking around the room. For the most part, he’s happy; he has his friends back, they’ve saved them. However, as he looks around, he feels exhausted by the seemingly never-ending battles they have to fight.

He continues, ‘There are still people we have to save but we should also be prepared to consider that they may not be able to be saved.’ Sadly, his eyes flick from Wanda, to Thor, to the guardians. Although, he doesn’t know them all that well, Tony had filled him in on everyone they’d lost a while ago and Rocket had shared stories about his team.

At this point, Fury cuts in, stepping forward authoritatively, ‘The most important thing, right now, is the gauntlet and the stones.’ 

Tony could laugh at that, instead though, he just throws his head back, his hand running over his face as he smirks at the comment. ‘Oh yeah, forget the dead friends. First let’s hand over this huge power to SHIELD.’ Fury glares at him and Tony shakes his head. ‘What’s wrong? Am I incorrect? Were you going to say that you don’t want the gauntlet?’

‘Tony, it’s safer in our hands, we have people that can deal with this,’ he tries to rationalise.

This time, Tony actually does laugh, so amused by the comment. Still, when he speaks, each word that he says is dragged out, anger evident in his tone, ‘You cannot have that much power. You cannot have enough power to wipe out whoever you want with the snap of your fingers.’

The room is filled with an unpleasant tension and no one can stand to make eye contact with one another. ‘We should dismantle the gauntlet,’ Thor says, sadness in his eyes. ‘It may have the ability to bring back my brother, my people-’ he looks down, tapping his hand against the table.

‘It is too powerful, we cannot risk using it for selfish purposes,’ he explains. He turns his head to stare Fury down and although he can see the objection in his eyes, he says nothing.

‘Well, yes, I do agree,’ Tony begins and everyone’s attention turns to him waiting for his continuation and he manages to keep a level head. ‘However, we should look into the stones individually. The mind stone on its own may be able to bring back Vision and while we were searching for ways to bring you all back we found out how Thanos got the soul stone.’

This is when Rocket interjects, looking to his teammates, taking on his own responsibilities. ‘He sacrificed Gamora because he had to give up what he loved,’ he starts, twitching uncomfortably at the conversation. ‘We think we may be able to reverse the sacrifice when returning the soul stone. It’s a long shot, though.’

Thor smiles comfortingly at him and adds, ‘Have hope, my friend. You must return the stone to its rightful place and the rest will follow, I assure you.’

With this, the guardians decide to do what they can to return Gamora, gathering together in preparation for their mission. Thor leaves with Strange to retrieve the gauntlet and the stones, preparing to dissemble the weapon and hand over the soul stone to the guardians.

Everyone else, aside from Tony, Steve and Fury follow after them, returning to the communal area. Tony grabs Peter’s shoulder as he leaves and looks him sternly in the eye, ‘Hey kid, don’t go far.’

Peter grins at him, nodding enthusiastically at his mentor. ‘Yes, Mr Stark, of course. Yeah- I’ll be- Yeah,’ he stammers, excitedly, before leaving to follow the others into the communal area.

As soon as he’s out of the room and the door is shut, Tony turns to Fury, ‘You can’t have the building back, it’s ours. And you can’t have the gauntlet or any of the stones.’ At Tony’s aggressive outburst, Steve rests a hand on his back in an attempt to calm him down.

‘I thought you might say that,’ he grumbles before sighing and giving in. ‘You should have the building, it is the Avengers facility anyway,’ he admits and Tony’s face lights up. ‘But Tony,’ he starts again and Tony rolls his eyes, ‘Those stones cannot fall into the wrong hands ever again,’ he warns. ‘That includes your own.’

Steve steps forward, protectively and the air seems to be knocked out of Tony’s lungs. Still, he pushes Steve backwards, determined to defend himself, ‘I am never going near those things again.’

At that comment Fury seems relatively pleased and decides to head back to his own base, leaving Tony and Steve alone. ‘FRIDAY, make sure he doesn’t snoop around or doing anything suspicious, would you?’ he asks and Steve laughs at his distrusting nature.

‘So,’ he begins, smiling at Tony, eagerly and he already knows what he wants to ask about. ‘You’re helping Bucky with his arm?’ he asks, slightly nervously but also proudly.

Tony wants to roll his eyes at Steve and tell him to leave him alone. He doesn’t want to talk about it. Although, Steve looks so adorably excited, anticipating Tony’s response that he just laughs.

‘C’mon Cap,’ he sighs, smiling fondly and nodding his head to the door as he walks towards it, Steve following behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop, whoop. We got ourselves some Bucky Barnes to fit in nicely with the denial. Expect more of that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took an actual eternity, so I'm sorry for that. I'll try to get back on track.

As Steve and Tony make their way down to the communal area, they hardly speak, nervous that they’ll say something to scare the other off. Tony could laugh at the thought but instead presses his lips together tightly, to suppress the outburst. 

‘Hey, Mr Stark. Does this mean I’m a proper avenger now?’ Peter shouts out as he walks in, making his face drop. 

He quickly recovers, plastering on a smile and shaking his head, ‘You have a year’s worth of schoolwork to catch up on, Pete. Now’s no time to be taking on more responsibilities.’ Peter pouts at the response and Tony laughs quietly, noticing Steve staring at him from the corner of his eye. 

He turns and forces a smile at Steve, well aware of how obviously fake it is but unable to do anything about it. As he walks over to the others, to sit on the sofa, Tony notices Bucky looking between him and Steve, picking up on the small encounter.

The soldier looks away to address the whole room, thankfully changing the subject. ‘I think perhaps we should call that it for the day. I know we still have plenty to do but I’m kinda still tired. Feel like maybe I should feel refreshed after basically a year long nap and honestly it seems like all I’m doing these days is waiting to be woken up from something again,’ he chuckles, the sound echoing amongst a few of the others.

He looks to Tony, gauging his reaction and smiling as he sees that the man is almost comforted by the joke. Steve wanders behind them, standing behind the sofa Tony is seated on. ‘Well, I suppose it couldn’t hurt to take some time to catch each other up, we’ve all been fairly busy recuperating these last few days that I’ve hardly spoken to anyone,’ he comments, nodding slightly.

‘Wow, Cap. How rude of you,’ Tony mocks, a smile on his face as the other rolls his eyes. When he looks back at the others, he finds Bucky staring at him almost unnervingly but unintentionally.

Most of the team distract themselves easily with carefree conversations about what they’ve missed, be it personal events or Avenger-related incidents and even movies and modern culture. Of course, Peter is the main - possibly even the only - one asking about the films he missed but the comment still stands.

Amongst the chatter, Tony mostly just sits back, his eyes glued to Peter and a small smile tugging at his lips. ‘Mr. Stark!’ he practically screams, jumping to face Tony as the others continue to talk. 

‘I spoke to Ned but he was gone too so he didn’t know much. I mean, there were movies of course, he knew that, but he obviously didn’t watch any. What ones did you see? I need to know which are the best to know what to catch up on. You’re not really a movie guy though. Well what else did I miss? You’ve got to know something, right?’ he pesters and Tony rolls his eyes exaggeratedly.

He shakes his head at him and laughs, ‘You’ve got to let me get a word in, kid.’ At this Peter smiles sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders awkwardly.

‘Sorry, Mr. Stark.’

Just as Tony’s about to interject, Thor marches through the door cheerfully, soon followed by Strange and the Guardians. Strange is wearing the time stone again and Tony relaxes at the sight, much calmer at the thought of him guarding it than he was when he first met the man.

Quill is holding some sort of case that most likely holds the soul stone in his hand, looking at Tony seemingly confident in the plan to recover Gamora with it. He steps forwards, gripping it tighter and looking around before addressing everyone, ‘Well, we’ve got a roadtrip to attend to.’

Tony huffs out a small laugh and shake his head at the man’s unjustified faith and lack of planning. He knows that he cares deeply about rescuing Gamora and admires his ability to still smile and joke through it. Not that Tony doesn’t do that, it’s just less sincere with him.

‘I repaired your ship while you were gone,’ Tony begins, pretending that they were just away for a while. He stands, walking with the Guardians to where it’s being kept and they squeeze in the elevator, leaving the following Avengers to take the next one.

He continues as the step onto the floor it’s on, guiding them towards it, ‘I made a few improvements too and added a communication system so you can contact us at anytime. Rocket knows the details, so it shouldn’t be too hard to adjust.’

‘Hm, well, Rocket’s not the main pilot. I’m really the better one but at least he knows something now,’ Peter ponders loudly, making the other scowl.

‘Please, I couldn’t teach you the improvements no matter how much time I spend explaining it.’ 

Quill quickly interrupts, laughing as he comments, ‘Why? Because you’re stupid?’

‘Because you’re stupid, idiot. You couldn’t understand this stuff,’ he mocks, tapping the side of the ship.

Tony rolls his eyes and sighs loudly, ‘Stop bickering. You’re acting like children.’

Steve chooses this moment to walk in, smirking smugly as he quickly quips, ‘You’re hardly one to talk.’ Stephen laughs behind him, while the other Avengers follow them and Tony turns to glare at Steve.

As annoying as the quarreling and insulting jokes are, Tony still finds it somewhat relaxing. No matter how dysfunctional, it almost feels like a family.

Steve wanders to stand next to Tony as the Guardians file onto the ship, checking the supplies that have already been stuffed in. Tony looks over to the Avengers to find Peter jumping through the crowd of them to stare at the spaceship in awe.

‘Woah, Mr Stark, this is awesome!’ he calls, running on board to look at the inside.

‘Yeah just don’t stow away, kid,’ he shouts, turning to Steve and shaking his head as if in disbelief but chuckling nonetheless. ‘Teenagers, right?’ he mutters, smiling. Steve raises an eyebrow and Tony just shrugs and turns away, watching Peter chatting to Rocket about the ship.

He gives them a moment to look over the ship before they wander back to the entrance to say their farewells. Tony nods his head at Peter to signal for him to come back out and he practically leaps over to his mentor. When he settles in front of Tony, he lays a hand on the boy’s shoulder, as if holding him in place. 

‘Rabbit,’ Thor bellows, walking towards the entrance as Rocket steps towards him, ‘I apologise for not joining you.’

‘Eh,’ he shrugs, still looking up at Thor even though he’s on a higher level, ‘You gotta find your brother. You’ve got your own mission.’

At this, Thor smiles, his hand clapping down on the raccoon’s shoulder, almost making him fall over. ‘Thank you, friend,’ he says, sincerely, the remark met with a smile.

Quill steps forward at this point, still tightly gripping the infinity stone as he looks at the two, his gaze then wandering to the others. Somehow, he finds himself at a loss for words, unsure of how to say goodbye to the people who brought him back.

Thankfully, Tony speaks up, just a small comment but it helps. ‘Be careful,’ he pauses, smirking as he intentionally messes up his name again, ‘Mr Lord.’

Quill rolls his eyes and scoffs while Drax laughs behind him. ‘Yeah, you too,  _ Mr Man _ .’

The others say their goodbyes and Strange walks over to Quill. He repeats, for about the millionth time, how important the responsibility of holding an infinity stone is. Not that anyone would disagree after what happened and not that anyone would disagree with the man who is protecting one himself. 

As they all walk into the ship, locking themselves in to prepare for takeoff, Tony can see Peter turning to look once more as the entrance lifts up to close. He nods and presses a button, allowing the side of the building to open up so the ship can leave and Tony laughs as Peter gasps beside him. 

The ship lifts off, out of the building, quickly picking up speed and soaring away and after a few moments the gap closes up leaving everyone staring just at a wall in silence. 

‘So,’ Bucky begins awkwardly, ‘Day off?’

Tony smirks next to him while Steve rolls his eyes, turning and heading for the lift, everyone following. 

‘Mr Stark? Mr Stark, that was so cool. How did it do that? Was it that specific section of wall or can it all fold away like that? It was like it was for that specific section of the building where the ship was parked.’

Tony turns to stare Peter in the eyes and the teenager quickly shuts up to hear him talk. ‘I tell you what, kid,’ he bargains, ‘I’ll show you the blueprints, yeah? See if you can wrap your head around it. You’re smart after all.’

He immediately nods his head in excitement and Tony smiles at his enthusiasm. Not that he was lying, he knows that he’s clever. After all he’d made an awful lot of his equipment before he even met him. 

They stand in the elevator with Steve and Bucky while the others wait for the next one, not wanting to separate to interrupt their conversations anyway. For most of the time, it’s silent and slightly awkward but as the doors open and Tony begins to walk out, he says to Bucky, ‘Get me those blueprints for your arm, Barnes. We’ll start work tonight.’

Even though he's turned away from the two men, Tony can still tell that Bucky looks shocked, surprised and sort of confused and can feel that Steve has a grin spread across his face. It's nice to feel the soldier's happiness; he deserves it and Tony loves that he's the one that makes him feel that way.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long. I'm a disaster, please don't hate me.

Steve knocks cautiously on Tony’s workshop door causing the man to look up, surprised. His face lights up when he sees who’s come to visit him and he hops off his seat to go greet him at the door, despite knowing he doesn’t need to open it for him.

‘Hey Cap, can I help you with something?’ he asks casually, walking back to the work surface that he was sitting at before.

Steve initially had decided to go down to ask Tony if he was okay, seeing as he hadn’t come out all day but realistically, now that he’s down here, he realises that when Tony’s set on working he stays in the workshop for more than just one day. ‘No, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your work,’ he starts, now questioning why he was worried about the engineer’s well-being. ‘I was just wondering what you were working on.

Tony looks up from the blueprints he’s adjusting, surprised that Steve seems to care about his work. ‘Well, why don’t you come sit yourself down here,’ he starts jumping back up to push Steve into his seat before continuing, ‘And I’ll show you all the fun stuff in Bucky’s arm.’

Steve smiles softly at Tony’s excitement and stares down at the blueprints he had been working on. ‘Cool drawing,’ he comments, causing Tony to scoff loudly.

‘Excuse me, Capsicle, but this is much more than a drawing, thank you very much. You’re the artist here, not me. No, I do all the interesting, clever stuff that makes it work,’ he shoots at the man, looking incredibly offended.

Steve laughs lightly and shakes his head before turning back to the blueprint. ‘Okay, well sorry. Please do tell me about your _interesting clever stuff_ ,’ he mocks, jokingly.

‘FRIDAY, show us the model for Bucky’s arm,’ he calls out, stepping slightly closer to Steve, one hand supporting him on the work surface.

Steve jumps a little as a 3D projection of the arm appears in front of them and Tony giggles slightly at the reaction. ‘Don’t worry, it won’t bite,’ he says, jokingly pretending to comfort him.

‘Shut up, I can just never get used this new technology,’ he defends, still staring at the projection looking pretty impressed.

Tony laughs again, grinning from ear to ear as he chokes out, ‘Wow okay, sorry, _Grandpa_.’

That earns him a light tap on the back of his head and as he turns around to find where, or rather who, it came from Bucky comments, ‘Show you elders some respect.’

Peter, who had decided to join Bucky on his visit to the lab stifles a laugh and Tony glares at him. ‘You,’ he says pointing a finger at the boy, ‘Should respect _me_ then.’ He lectures and Steve rolls his eyes, out of Tony’s line of sight, still smiling nonetheless. Peter goes a little red with embarrassment but still seems pretty cheerful with the situation.

‘Anyway, Barnes, Parker. Want to tell me what you’re here for?’ Tony questions the two.

‘Well, Bucky said you’re making him a new arm,’ Peter begins, his words rushing out of his mouth so fast Tony can hardly keep up. ‘And, you know, I wanted to see it. He said you were working on it now, so we figured we could come see what you’ve done. I mean, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I-’

Tony holds out a hand cutting him off and he immediately shuts up, looking expectantly up at his mentor. ‘I was actually just showing Steve the design now. Perhaps you’ll be a little more interested than he was,’ he says looking pointedly at Steve.

‘I was interested,’ Steve defends, furrowing his eyebrows.

‘Fine then. Perhaps you’ll be a little less frightened of the projection,’ he smirks in reply turning back to the projection.

Steve leans back on the stool, while Tony talks to Peter, to speak to Bucky. He’s unsure of what to say with Tony in front of him so he just smiles at him and leans towards him.

Thankfully, Bucky gets the hint and moves closer until he’s standing directly behind Steve and leans his forearms on the other’s shoulders. Steve leans back into the support, although he’s nervous to be so close to him.

They could never be like this openly before but he’s constantly having to remind himself that times have changed. However, residual nervousness from the war and before aside, he still feels anxious to be this close in front of Tony. He feels guilty, almost.

It’s silly, really. He used to flirt with Tony and they grew very close but it was all just a bit of fun and he’d crushed that when he chose Bucky anyway. He shouldn’t be feeling bad about leaning against Bucky, Tony doesn’t even care.

In reality, Tony hasn’t even noticed. He’s too wrapped up in what he’s speaking to Peter about, so Steve relaxes back a little more. Bucky’s arms fall off his shoulders, as he moves back, and onto Steve’s chest. He holds one with the other, his arms now partially hugging Steve and the man smiles at the comfort of his body warmth.

Tony turns around, mid sentence, to include Bucky in the conversation about his arm and his smile falters for a second but he continues what he was saying almost perfectly. He holds out a hand to point at the part of Bucky’s mechanical arm that meets his skin as he talks about the nerves.

His fingers brush the meeting of the two sections and he turns back to Peter, still talking. Bucky’s breathing stops while Tony’s fingers linger and eventually he lets out a long sigh as they drop away again.

Eventually, when Tony has explained the basics of the connections of the nerves he pulls down the projection and pushes himself away from the side. He claps his hands together and walks towards the exit, turning around to face the others as he continues to walk backwards in the direction of the door. ‘Let’s eat. I’m starving,’ he complains and Peter rushes to the door, following obediently.

‘I could eat,’ Bucky says, slipping away from behind Steve but briefly tugging on the bottom of his top to encourage him to join. Tony grins at the response, walking out the door after Peter and the super soldiers soon follow.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey, I'm going to be really honest here because I'm not sure what to do with this fanfic.

When I started writing it, it was kind of like a coping mechanism to deal with Infinity War, so I could just skip ahead to when everything was (more or less) all better. I just wanted Tony and Steve together again, I wanted Bucky back and I absolutely needed Peter back. Honestly, I feel like that's probably why there's such a surge of fanfics around the release of Infinity War.

Anyway, I feel like I lost momentum with this fanfic because I published it before I'd written enough to get into it, so sorry about that. Also, now the Endgame trailer has been released it feels silly skipping ahead to what I wish would've happened a few months ago.

So basically, I'm thinking of deleting the fic. I might write a small fic in it's place just for closure but I'm not sure.

Please, give your thoughts in the comments if you were wondering where I was going to go with it and need some closure of whatever. I know it kind of sucks when fanfic writers just stop fics midway through.


End file.
